


In All the Ways She Can

by TerminalMiraculosis



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Aromantic Violet Sabrewing, F/F, Huelet Week 2020, Trans Female Character, Trans Female Huey Duck, Weblena is background, also give me a chance here QPRs are good!!! they are just as good as romantic relationships fight me, endgame here is a QPR but thats hard to get across in relationships tags so i just put both
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27034375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerminalMiraculosis/pseuds/TerminalMiraculosis
Summary: When Huey develops a crush on Violet, the two of them must find a way to navigate through their feelings and figure out a relationship that works for both of them.A story about Huey and Violet becoming queerplatonic partners.
Relationships: Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck, Huey Duck & Violet Sabrewing, Huey Duck & Webby Vanderquack, Huey Duck/Violet Sabrewing, Lena (Disney: DuckTales) & Violet Sabrewing
Comments: 14
Kudos: 44





	1. You Have a Crush On Her.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!! I've wanted to write this story for FOREVER, and [Huelet Week 2020](https://hueletweek2020.tumblr.com/) gave me the perfect chance to really go for it. This was written for day four: Crush!
> 
> This story follows a few headcanons that I shamelessly adopted from [Stainedglassbirds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stainedglassbirds): so, Huey is a trans girl here, Violet is aromantic, and the end game is a queerplatonic relationship instead of a traditional romantic one. It might be a little niche but I think it's also very cute, and I write the stories I want to write so yeah. Hope you enjoy!

Huey stared at the board, eyebrows narrowing in concentration. Violet, her opponent, was sitting in her chair with perfect posture, gazing at Huey with her usual unparsable expression. Huey grit her teeth, bringing her hands up to her head in anguish as her eyes scanned the pieces.

“Huey, it’s been ten minutes,” Violet said.

“Don’t rush me!” Huey said. “There’s got to be a way, something I’m not seeing—”

“There isn’t,” Violet interrupted. “My offense is foolproof. This is your end.”

Huey groaned, slouching back in her chair. “Uuuuuuugh. Fine, you win. For the twelfth time or whatever.”

“Fifteenth.”

“Whatever.” Huey sat up, and began resetting the pieces. “You know, I really thought I had you that time. Everything was going so well! My strategy was so good!”

“You mean your strategy to pincer my queen?” Violet asked, raising an eyebrow. “Because I saw that coming ever since you moved knight to D-6.”

Huey’s eyes widened. “That long? But—how?”

Violet shrugged. “It just seemed like the kind of thing you would go for, given the state of the board and your increasing desperation in the face of your losing streak.” She smiled. “Another great game, Huelyn. Same time next week?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Don’t take it too hard,” Violet said, reaching over the board to put a hand on Huey’s shoulder, drawing her eyes up to meet Violet’s. “You’re a  _ great _ player. I haven’t had this much fun with chess in a long time.”

_ There it is again, _ Huey thought; that thumping in her chest. Elevated heart rate, sweating, the rush of blood to her cheeks—all signs that pointed towards her being  _ thirsty for revenge. _ “I’m glad you’re having fun beating me into the ground over and over,” she grumbled.

“You’ll get me one day,” Violet assured. “Maybe.”

“There’s no maybe about it!” Huey returned, standing up from her chair and pointing a finger at Vi. “Next time, I’ll get you for sure! Just you wait.”

“I look forward to it,” Violet said with a smile. It was a soft sort of grin, one that seeped up into her eyes, making them seem to almost sparkle in the light. She stood up as well, and her hair bounced with the motion, the little tuft that always stuck out in front framing her face.

“Yeah, well—” Huey spluttered a bit, struggling to find words as she stared Violet down, face hot. Why did she always get so worked up whenever she hung out with Violet? This truly was a bitter rivalry. “I’m glad! Because I’m gonna win! See you later!”

Huey turned and ran off, Violet’s polite “See you!” trailing after her like a whisper in the wind. She stomped all the way over to her room, threw open the door, and stalked up the ladder to her bed, passing by Louie and Dewey, who were both lying in their beds on their phones. With a huff, she threw herself onto her mattress.

“Woah,” Dewey said, sticking his head off the side of his bed and removing an earbud. “Huey, you good?”

“It’s Violet,” she said with a sigh. “She’s just—ugh! She’s so frustrating!”

“Did you guys get in a fight or something?” Dewey asked.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Huey said. “It’s just, she’s just—I guess I’m jealous? Like, she’s so smart, and it seems like she’s just better than me at everything. But she’s also so  _ nice _ about it! It’s so confusing!”

This time, it was Louie who spoke up. “She beat you in chess again, didn’t she?”

“Yes!” Huey exclaimed. “For the fifteenth week in a row! I’ve—I’ve beaten  _ Scrooge _ at chess before. I don’t understand how she could be so much better than me.”

“You should talk to her about it if it’s bothering you so much,” Louie said.

“I can’t do that!” Huey protested. “She’s so nice about everything, and so supportive, and so kind, I can’t just—I mean, it’s my problem, you know? And I don’t want her to go easy on me, either. That’s something I really appreciate about her, actually; like, even though she’s so much smarter than me about everything she never talks down to me or pities me. She always treats me as her equal, which—which I’m  _ not, _ I mean I’m  _ super _ not, like, she’s so intelligent and she always knows what to do and how to keep her head in a crisis, and, and—and she’s so  _ pretty _ too, you know? Like, her face and eyes and everything—it’s not fair! She’s like, perfect! GAH!” 

She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, then dropped them back down to her red-hot face. “God, listen to me. I’m getting so worked up again. She would  _ never _ get so jealous like this, I just—why does this always happen? She’s my friend, I don’t want to hate her, but my heart’s going crazy and I just—I think this is anger? I think I’m angry at her? That’s what the symptoms indicate, anyway, and I don’t know what else it could be. Ugh, I’m so confused…”

“You have a crush on her,” Dewey said.

“You have a crush on her,” Louie said.

Huey froze. “I have a what on her?” 

“A crush,” Louie said. “You know. Romance?”

“What? No, I don’t have a crush on her, that’s crazy. Unless—” Huey stopped dead as everything suddenly clicked into place—the nervousness, the eagerness, the admiration, the blood pressure, the heart rate, the constant thoughts. “Oh my god I have a crush on her.”

“Sounds pretty bad too,” Dewey said with a nod.

“Oh it’s  _ very _ bad,” Huey said, clutching at her hair, nearly pulling it out of its ponytail. “It is  _ so _ bad. How did I not notice? Oh my god, I’m crushing on her so hard right now. I have been for  _ weeks, _ I’m—all the restless nights, all the daydreaming about beating her at chess—oh god, this makes so much sense, oh I am  _ so _ screwed—”

“Here we go,” Dewey mumbled.

“What do I do?” Huey asked, sitting up and gesticulating wildly. “What do I even do? I can’t just—I can’t just meet up with her and hang out now! What would I  _ say?  _ ‘Hi, Violet?’ I mean, come on, am I a fucking idiot?!”

“I’m starting to wonder,” Louie droned.

“She’s gonna figure me out so fast! She’ll see right through me! She’ll be all like, ‘Say, Huey, you’re acting a bit strange,’ and then I’ll panic and be like, ‘IT ISN’T BECAUSE I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU!’ and then I’ll  _ die _ I’ll  _ literally die _ and—and—and this is going to distract me so much, how am I  _ ever _ going to beat her at chess now if I’m constantly thinking about how obviously I’m totally having a really bad crush on her the whole time? This is the worst! Why did you tell me?!”

“The burden of knowledge truly does sit heavily,” Louie said.

“If it helps, I don’t think you were going to beat her at chess either way,” Dewey pointed out.

“No! It doesn’t help!” Huey shouted. “Because now all I can think about is how good at chess she is and how smart she is and how much I want her to beat me at chess again! I HATE LOSING AT CHESS! I SHOULD NOT BE LOOKING FORWARD TO IT! EVERYTHING IS WRONG!”

“Okay, maybe, like, chill,” Louie suggested. “You’re panicking.”

“Yeah,” Dewey said, climbing up onto Huey’s bunk and putting his hand on her shoulder. “Deep breaths, remember?”

“Right,” Huey said, trying her best to control her breathing. “Right. It just—it’s a lot. I really don’t know what to do.”

“Just take it slow,” Louie suggested. He was on the ladder now, too, and soon all three of them were up on the bunk with her. “Just try to have fun with her like you always have.”

“But aren’t I supposed to like… do different things?” Huey asked, gulping. “Like, flirt and stuff?”

“You shouldn’t do anything you’re not comfortable with,” Louie said.

Dewey nodded. “And there’s no rush! I mean, think about how long it took for Webby to finally ask out Lena.”

Huey let out a chuckle. “That’s a good point. It’s just… I don’t know, I’ve never felt this way before about someone. What if she doesn’t feel the same way?”

“Then it’ll be awkward for a few weeks or so, and after that, you’ll be friends again,” Louie said.

“I know it feels like a big deal, but it’s totally normal and stuff,” Dewey reassured. “Whatever happens, you’ll be okay.”

Huey sighed. “Easy for you to say. You guys haven’t had any crushes before.”

“Well…” Dewey exchanged a look with Louie. “Maybe you should talk to somebody who has?”

* * *

The front door swung closed with a thump as Violet stepped into her house, taking off her jacket. “I’m home!”

“Hey, sweetie!” Ty greeted from the kitchen. “Dinner in half an hour! Did you have fun?”

“Indeed,” Violet called back.

“Visiting Huey again?” Lena asked from the living room, peering at Violet through the doorway.

Violet nodded, walking into the room and taking a seat on the couch next to Lena. There was some reality TV show playing on the television, but it was clearly just background noise for whatever Lena was doing on her phone. “We had our book club, and then our weekly chess match, which I of course won.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with her lately,” Lena pointed out.

“I find her company rather enjoyable.” Violet glanced over at Lena, who was looking at her with a curious expression. “What?”

“Hmm, I think I know what’s going on here,” Lena said.

Violet raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“You have a crush on her, don’t you?” Lena teased, poking Violet in the arm.

“Lena, I do not—”

“No no no, you totally do!” Lena said, continuing to poke her. “You’ve got a  _ cruuuuush _ on her! You ‘find her company rather enjoyable?’ I mean, come  _ on _ Vi, that’s more affection than you’ve expressed towards Dad in the past month.”

“He knows what he did,” Violet said evenly. “And sorry to burst your bubble, but it isn’t a crush. My affection for Huelyn is purely platonic. I’m aromantic.”

“Oh. You are?”

“Yes.”

“Neat. I didn’t know.” Lena paused for a moment in thought, and then started poking Violet again. “You’ve got a  _ frieeeeeeend cruuuuuuuuuush  _ on her!”

Violet blushed, batting Lena’s hand away. “Cease this.”

“You totally do! That’s a thing, right? Louie’s aro too and he said it’s a thing!”

“It’s—” Violet kept swatting at Lena’s hand as it redoubled its efforts to poke her. “Look, it  _ is _ a thing, but it is not a  _ current _ thing happening to me right now with regards to Huey.”

“Well.” Lena shrugged, stopping her hand mid-poke. “If you say so, I guess. But I’m watching you.”

Violet narrowed her eyes. “Is this whole thing an attempt to get revenge for how long I teased you about Webby?”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Lena said, bringing her phone back up. Then, in a whisper: “You liiiiiiiike herrrrrrrr—mmph!”

Violet let go of the pillow she’d just slammed into Lena’s face, letting it fall down into her sister’s lap. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

“You can run from me, but you can’t run from your feeeeeliiiiiings!” Lena called after her.

“Come on, Violet,” Violet murmured to herself as the laugh track from Lena’s TV show faded away into the background. “Pull yourself together.”

She let out a breath, and slipped into her room. 


	2. Oh, I Do Not Got This.

“You have a crush on Violet?!” Webby exclaimed, eyes blowing wide as she leaned forward on her bed.

“Not so loud!” Huey shushed.

“Sorry! Sorry.” Webby began bouncing a little on her hands, smiling giddily. “It’s just so exciting! My sister and my best friend! You two are going to make a  _ great _ couple.”

“How are you so sure she likes me back?” Huey asked.

“I don’t know,” Webby said with a shrug. “Who wouldn’t like you?”

“Okay, but—” Huey pinched her brow. “Webby, that’s very sweet, but there’s a very  _ real _ chance that she won’t—”

“Oh, I’m sure everything’ll work out,” Webby said, waving her hand. “You’re…  _ you! _ And she’s Violet! You know?”

“What?” Huey frowned. “No? What?”

“I really don’t know how to make it any more clear for you, Huey.”

“Maybe talking to you about this was a mistake,” Huey said flatly.

“Wait wait wait no no no!” Webby said, waving her hands. “I’m sorry! I’m getting too excited again. I’m listening! I promise I’m listening. What did you want to talk about?”

Huey sighed. “I’m just a bit overwhelmed I think. I’ve never had a crush before, and it’s really feeding into my anxiety and I don’t know how to handle it and I kind of just want to hide in a corner forever. And you’re the only person I really know who’s had to deal with a crush—well, besides Lena, I guess. So I figured I’d ask if you have any advice.”

“Ohhhhh.” Webby nodded. “Well… jeez. This is hard. I guess, um… well, what is it about it that’s making you anxious?”

“I don’t know, all of it?” Huey groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “I just, god, I  _ know _ I’m gonna act like such an idiot around her now, and that’s so embarrassing! What if I say something stupid, or, or mean, by accident? And like, she just feels  _ so _ out of my league. Honestly, ever since the race, I’ve just been in awe of her. She’s just… she almost seems superhumanly perfect. It’s intimidating, I guess.”

“Oh! Pedestal syndrome!” Webby smiled. “This is great! Well, I mean, it’s not great, it’s a problem. But it’s a problem I can actually help with!”

“Pedestal syndrome?” Huey asked. “You mean… you think I’m idolizing her?” 

“Yep! Very common, really, and to be fair to you, Violet  _ is _ pretty great. But she’s not perfect! You just have to see that.” Webby pulled out her phone and began tapping. 

“Wait wait wait, what are you doing?” Huey asked. “Are you calling someone? Who?”

“Lena!”

“WHAT?!” Huey jumped up, frantic. “You can’t tell Lena about this! She’s Violet’s  _ sister, _ if—if  _ she _ knows, then—”

“Relax! I’m not telling her anything,” Webby assured. “Do you trust me?”

“I—” Huey let out a long breath. “I trust you, Webby.”

“Great!” Webby hit the button, and the phone started ringing. “Just sit right there, and don’t say anything. I’m gonna put her on speaker so you can hear her, but she doesn’t need to know you’re—oop!” She cut herself off as Lena picked up. “Hi, Lena!”

_ “Hey, Pink,” _ Lena said through the phone.  _ “What’s up?” _

“Are you alone?” Webby asked.

_ “Yep. Need something?” _

“Yeah, I need you to tell me some embarrassing stories about Violet.”

_ “Oh, bet,”  _ Lena said.  _ “Any reason?” _

“It’s a surprise!”

_ “Good enough for me. Hmm…” _ Lena paused for a second. _ “Okay, so, this one time, we were making brownies, right? And—okay, so, I love Violet, but she can’t cook or bake for  _ shit, _ okay?” _

‘See?’ Webby mouthed, grinning. Huey just nodded slowly; that was weird, though. Violet seemed like she would be an excellent cook.

Lena went on.  _ “Like, she can follow a recipe, but—oh my god, Pink, it was horrible. She asked how many chocolate chips she should add to the batter and Papi just told her to eyeball it and—”  _ Lena paused to snicker.  _ “God, she just fucking  _ dumped _ them in there. If Dad hadn’t been there to stop her… Jeez. _

_ “So anyway, then she was put on mixing duty, right? Because surely she can do that. Wrong! She can’t. She can’t at all. I think she figured that, like, the faster you go, the more efficient it is? And she’s aaaaaaall about efficiency. Anyway, she made a huge mess, you know how it goes with that kind of thing. So she does the dishwasher now.” _

Webby snickered. “That’s hilarious. Do you have anything else?”

_ “Loads. Ooh, ooh, so, fucking, okay, so she’s been trying to learn violin recently, okay? For one of her nerd badges or whatever.” _

“It’s not—” Huey slapped a hand over her beak.

_ “Huh?” _ Lena asked.

“Oh, uh, nothing!” Webby said, shooting Huey a nervous look. “Keep going.”

_ “Uh, okay. Well, anyway, she’s trying to learn violin. And I say ‘trying to learn’ because it literally sounds like a dying gazelle.” _

Webby barked out a laugh. “Wait, wait, that bad?”

_ “Worse,” _ Lena said.  _ “Like—like to the point where she’ll be practicing and Dad and Papi will decide to go out on a walk because it’s just such a beautiful day right now. They’re very encouraging, of course, but, like… Violet’s usually a fast learner when it comes to new skills, but this has been borderline excruciating. I’m, like,  _ this _ close to telling her to go practice out in the junkyard, but I don’t want to have the Beagles trying to kill her.” _

Webby snickered.

_ “Oh! Oh! Also, she keeps—okay, well, this isn’t really an embarrassing story but it’s an annoying thing she’s been doing recently so it’s tangentially related, and you’re my girlfriend so you have to hear me complain about it—she keeps bringing up Huey. Like, constantly. It’s kind of weird.” _

“What…?” Huey muttered under her breath.

Webby swallowed, frowning, her eyes flicking over to meet Huey’s. “Haha, that’s, um—”

_ “Like, don’t get me wrong—Huey’s great! Love her. But like, okay, for example, it’ll be dinner, right? And Dad’ll be all, ‘Hey, Violet, what did you do today?’ because smalltalk, right? And I swear to god, every single time she’ll be like, oh, well, today Huey and I met to talk about nerd stuff. Or, today I went to the Woodchucks meeting with Huey. Or, today I read this book that Huey recommended. Or whatever. Huey, Huey, Huey, it’s like—okay, like, I get it. They’re really good friends. But I swear to god I’m about to start pretending that I’m like besties with Dewey just so that I can see how long it takes for her to realize that I’m making fun of her.” _

“That’s… uh, that’s great, Lena!” Webby said. “Well, you, um, really helped out a lot. I have to go now. Thanks bye!”

_ “Oh, uh, b—” _

Webby terminated the call and immediately swiveled to face Huey. “So—um—interesting!”

“I’m…” Huey blinked. “I’m so confused.”

“No, this is good, though!” Webby said. “She’s thinking about you a lot, apparently! That’s a good sign!”

“This is a lot to take in,” Huey said. “I… I guess that  _ is _ a good sign, though.”

“Even more importantly,” Webby said, “Violet isn’t as perfect as you thought, huh? She’s terrible in the kitchen, and sucks at violin! Who  _ knows _ what else she sucks at, right? Probably a ton of stuff! There’s no need to feel so intimidated. She’s not out of your league, Huey, she’s just…” Webby shrugged. “She’s just your friend. And maybe she could be more, if you’re brave!”

“I—I don’t—” Huey sighed. “I don’t even know where to start. Do I ask her out? Do I…  _ flirt?” _ She made a face. “I don’t know if I know how to do that.”

“When are you next seeing each other?”

“Um—Wednesday,” Huey answered. “We’ve got a thing at the library.”

“Well then, here’s how you start,” Webby said, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her in the eye with an encouraging smile. “You meet up with her, and you have fun.”

“I… right.” Huey let out a breath. “I can do that.”

“Heck yeah you can! Don’t worry about flirting or asking her out or any of that nonsense. If the opportunity comes, you’ll know. You don’t want to rush things.”

“Right,” Huey said, nodding. “Easy. I got this.”

“You got this!” Webby echoed.

“Yeah! I got this!” Huey paused. “Um—how will I know when an opportunity comes?”

“You just will,” Webby said. “If you’re unsure, wait. You’ve got all the time in the world. Because you’ve got this!”

Huey smiled. “I got this. Thanks, Webby.”

“Any time!”

* * *

Every Wednesday, Violet would volunteer at the local library to help reshelve books. She found it both relaxing and satisfying, and she almost always stumbled upon an interesting book while doing it that she wouldn’t have ordinarily considered reading. 

But ever since Huey had started volunteering alongside her a few months ago, those reasons for volunteering had become less and less important; she still enjoyed the task as much as ever, of course, but she found that, if anything, she looked forward to spending time with her friend the most.

When Violet entered the library, Huey was already there with a cart of returned books, placing them carefully onto the shelf. She had her hair up in her usual ponytail, poking out from the strap of her hat, but she was a little more dressed up than usual, with a smart grey vest worn over a collared red dress. 

“Greetings, Huelyn,” Violet said. “You look cute.”

Huey swirled around. “Violet! Hi! How are—wait did you just say I looked—whoops—” Huey stumbled, no doubt from turning too quickly, and grabbed the cart to steady herself. Sadly, the cart had wheels. “I—oh no— _ ungh. _ ” Huey grunted as her face collided with the floor, the book she was holding tumbling out of her hand and landing open on its side. In front of her, the cart squeaked shrilly as it slowly rolled away. “Oh, I do  _ not _ got this,” Huey grumbled into the ground.

Violet cocked her head to the side. “Don’t have what?”

“Um—this book! Because I just, uh, dropped it.” Huey coughed, picking the book back up. “Yep.”

Violet reached out a hand, and Huey gratefully took it as she pulled her back up to her feet. 

“Have you been drinking enough water?” Violet asked. “Normally you’re fairly well coordinated.”

“Um, yeah, that’s probably it,” Huey said.

They quickly fell into their regular routine, going from shelf to shelf and returning the books to their rightful places while discussing whatever topics were on their minds. However, today, Huey seemed nervous about something. Violet could hear it in the way she talked, shakiness running through her voice, and could see it in the way she was holding herself: smaller, off to the side, fidgeting, like she wanted to get closer but was afraid to. She was also much more soft-spoken than usual—normally, they talked a relatively even amount, either in back-and-forths or through taking turns going on long info-dumps about a topic they’d just gotten into. 

But today, Violet was practically having to lug the conversation around just to keep things going, with Huey struggling to come up with responses greater than a sentence. Violet even tried asking her a few questions to get her started, but if anything they only seemed to make her more nervous, as if Violet were trying to interrogate her. Clearly, something was up; Violet just couldn’t figure out what.

It all came to a head when Violet and Huey, in the middle of a fit of awkward silence, ended up reaching for the same book. Violet’s hand got there first, and Huey’s followed a second later, laying right on top of hers, warm and textured. 

Immediately, Huey jumped back like she had been burned. “Ah! Sorry!”

Violet frowned, looking down at her hand, which was still on the book. “Um—”

“Sorry!” she repeated. “I was just trying to get the book I didn’t mean to, uh…”

“It’s…” Violet’s mind spun, trying to figure out what was going on. “It’s fine, Huey. I really don’t mind if you touch me, you know. We’ve done so many times before.”

“I—” Huey seemed to realize her mistake, face going red as she wrung her hands together. “Right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to overreact like that.”

Violet decided to cut to the chase. “You’ve been acting strange all day. Is everything okay?”

“What? Strange? Haha! Don’t be crazy.” Huey waved her off, reaching out her other hand to lean nonchalantly against the cart—which still, in fact, had wheels. 

Violet winced as Huey went crashing down to the library’s carpet for the second time in the hour. “You okay?” she asked.

Huey let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Just dandy.”

Violet once again offered up her hand, and Huey once again took it, but Violet noticed this time how the other girl’s eyes seemed to be glued to their hands, her cheeks dusted with a faint blush. 

Violet gave Huey’s hand an experimental squeeze, and her blush deepened. Interesting; she was beginning to develop a theory on what had Huey acting so strangely. She just needed to test it. 

Still holding Huey’s hand, Violet faked a stumble, letting herself fall backwards a bit. She caught herself with her back foot before she could fully collapse, but she made sure to keep the motion believable. Meanwhile, she yanked on Huey’s arm as if trying to steady herself; of course, this only caused Huey to fall forward after her. 

“Whoops,” Violet said impassively. Huey let out a yelp as she toppled against her, her beak prodding a bit uncomfortably into Violet’s shoulder. 

“V-Violet!” Huey squeaked, letting go of Violet’s hand and scrambling off of her, face as red as her hat.

“I slipped,” Violet said. “My bad.”

“It’s—it’s fine,” Huey said, refusing to make eye contact. “It’s cool. It’s all cool, everything’s cool.” 

“I know I asked this before,” Violet said, “but is everything alright?”

“It’s…” Huey fidgeted with the hem of her dress. “Not really. I’m sorry, Vi, but I think I should go.”

“…I see,” Violet said. This had not been part of her plan. “Well… it was nice seeing you.”

“You too. Really,” Huey stressed. “It’s not you or anything, it’s—complicated. But I think I should go. Do you mind finishing up here?”

“Not at all, Huey,” Violet said, offering up what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

“Yeah,” Huey said, smiling weakly. “Thanks.” She began shuffling off, then paused, began to turn her head, hesitated, and then went through with it, meeting Violet’s eyes over her shoulder “You’re—you’re the best, Vi. Thanks for putting up with me.”

And then she ran away. 

Violet turned back to the cart and picked up the next book, blowing her ever-present tuft of hair out of her eyes. “Well,” she muttered to herself, “now this is a situation, isn’t it? Who knew friendship could get so complicated.”

She resolved to talk with Lena about it when she got home, and focused on the task at hand. 


	3. I Think You'll Find That, Actually, You Are the One Who is Impossible.

When Huey got back to the mansion, Dewey and Louie were slumped together on the couch, watching bad reality TV.

“Oh, you’re back early,” Dewey noted as Huey walked in. 

“Is this just what you guys do when I’m out?” Huey asked. “Watch crappy TV?”

“Excuse you,” Louie said. “Television is  _ subjective.” _

“But yes,” Dewey answered. “Pretty much.”

“Better than your cooking shows,” Louie said.

Huey rolled her eyes. “You can’t trick me into this argument a third time.”

“Did everything go okay with Violet?” Dewey asked.

“Um.” Huey could already feel her blush rising, and cursed herself internally. She really needed to get a grip. “No. Not at all.”

“That sucks,” Dewey said sympathetically.

Huey walked over and flopped down onto the couch between the two of them, and Louie dutifully grabbed the remote to lower the TV volume.

“I was just a complete mess,” Huey said, slumping her chin into her wrists. 

“I’m sure it wasn’t  _ that _ bad,” Dewey said.

Huey gave him a flat look. “I fell over when she said hi.”

“Oh.”

“I mean it could be worse,” Louie said.

“Thirty minutes after that, she asked me if I was feeling okay, and then I panicked and fell over  _ again,” _ Huey said. “And then immediately after that I fell over onto  _ her.” _

Louie was quiet for a few seconds, beak open just a sliver, before he finally said, “Well, I mean, at least you didn’t die?”

“Thanks,” Huey grumbled.

“Do you think she figured out what was going on?” Dewey asked. “Like, does she know you have a crush on her?”

“If she figured it out, she didn’t say anything; she mostly just seemed confused. But, I don’t know, maybe? I think I was pretty obvious.” Huey sighed. “That was literally the most stressful half hour of my life and I go on deadly adventures weekly. Guys, I can’t do this. I  _ can’t.” _

“Then tell her you like her,” Louie said.

“What? I can’t do that!”

“Then make sure you never see her again,” Louie said.

Huey frowned. “Okay, well, obviously no to that one.”

“Then figure out a way to not be an idiot around her,” Louie said.

“But I don’t know how to do that!”

“Then tell her you like her,” Louie said.

“You’re impossible,” Huey groaned.

“I think you’ll find that, actually,  _ you _ are the one who is impossible.” Louie pointed an accusatory finger at Huey. “Because those are literally your only options here.”

Dewey nodded. “He’s got a point.”

Huey let out a whine, letting her face collapse into her hands. “Okay. Okay. Fine. I’ll just confess, then. And then she’ll turn me down, and everything can go back to normal.”

“I’m… not sure that’s how that works,” Dewey said through his teeth.

“Just let me have this,” Huey pleaded.

“She also might accept,” Louie said. “Like, she  _ does _ spend a disgusting amount of time with you. Clearly she likes you in  _ some _ capacity, right? Hell, she might have a crush on  _ you.” _

“I… I guess.” Huey sighed. “Well, either way, I think if I don’t tell her I’ll explode. So I just… have to go for it, right?”

“Yeah!” Dewey exclaimed, pumping a fist.

“She’s coming over again in a few days for book club and chess. I can tell her then,” Huey decided. “As long as I don’t get nervous and chicken out.”

“Which you are  _ definitely _ going to do,” Louie said.

“Probably,” Huey admitted.

“Alright, look,” Louie said. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. If you don’t tell her you like her before she beats you at chess, I am personally going to go in there and tell her myself.”

Huey’s eyes widened. “Wh-what? Are you serious?”

“Yep,” Louie said with a smirk. “But that won’t be a problem, right? Because you’re gonna tell her.”

“Um—right,” Huey mumbled.

“Don’t worry, Huey,” Dewey said reassuringly. “You can do it!”

“And if you don’t, I will,” Louie said with a smile. “Think of it as insurance!”

As Louie turned the TV back up and the room was filled with bad dialog and overdone sound effects, Huey tried her best to disappear into the couch cushions.

* * *

“Sounds like she has a crush on you,” Lena said after Violet finished relaying the events of the library. 

“I reached a similar conclusion,” Violet said. “I’m not quite sure how to proceed.”

They were sitting in Lena’s room, Violet having come straight in after getting home from the library. Lena had been listening to music, but her headphones were now resting around her neck, her phone discarded on the mattress. Violet pursed her beak, watching Lena’s lava lamp warble and shift, spreading a pale light throughout her otherwise dim room. Lena always kept the lighting this way; she liked it dark, she had said when Violet had asked once upon a time, but not pitch black. Never pitch black.

Lena nodded. “I mean, if I were you, I’d nip this in the bud. The worst thing you can do here is lead her on, even if it’s unintentionally.”

“I’m just… worried I’ll hurt her, I suppose,” Violet said. “Or hurt our friendship.”

“I didn’t say it would be easy,” Lena said. “But the alternative is letting her go on as a complete mess around you until she finally finds the guts to ask you out, and then you let her down then.”

Violet sighed. “I know. Logically, I know all that. There’s a part of me, however, that’s… hesitant to put a stop to this so decisively.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? You don’t like her back, right? Then that’s that.”

“But I  _ do _ like her back,” Violet said with a sigh. “Just… not romantically.”

“Oh. Ohhhhhh.” Lena smirked. “Wait, that means I was  _ right! _ You  _ do _ have a friend crush on her!”

Violet rolled her eyes, smiling lightly. “Yes, you were right. But…” Violet trailed off. “That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want what she wants. I’ll still have to turn her down.”

“Wait, but isn’t there, like… a thingy you can do?” Lena said. “Like a QBR?”

“QPR,” Violet corrected. “It stands for queer-platonic relationship. It’s a committed relationship, but isn’t romantic. And, yes, that’s technically an option, though I’m not sure proposing it would be prudent at this time. I don’t want her to take it as a substitute for a romantic relationship, you know? Or to treat it as a counteroffer, or appeasement. I think it would just come out wrong to suggest it after turning her down.”

“Yeah, I mean…” Lena shrugged. “I don’t know, if that’s what you want, shouldn’t you tell her that’s what you want?”

Violet shook her head. “There are too many variables. I think for now, I’ll take your initial advice to simply turn her down,” Violet decided. “Thank you, Lena.”

“Um… you’re welcome, I guess,” she said, slipping her headphones back on, but not without giving Violet a slightly doubtful frown. “Tell me how it goes.”


	4. You Clearly Have No Idea How to Play Chess.

Huey stared at the chess board in front of her, eyes narrowed. This was, perhaps, the most important game of chess she would ever play; see, as soon as she had set eyes on Violet again, she had been filled with such a poignant sense of terror that she  _ knew _ she wouldn’t be able to go through with telling her about her crush. This introduced Louie’s ‘insurance’—according to him, once Violet beat Huey at chess, he would come out and spill the beans himself. 

This meant that Huey’s only way out was to finally win.

“Check,” said Violet, moving her bishop up.

Shit. 

Huey’s subconsciously brought her hand up to her mouth, biting on her thumb nail as she anxiously looked for an out. Things weren’t looking great. Violet was up a good couple pieces; Huey only had a rook, a knight, and her queen, aside from her king and a scattering of pawns. Meanwhile, Violet was sitting on both her knights, with a spare bishop and rook alongside her royals. It was…  _ technically _ winnable, but she would need a miracle.

She moved a pawn up to block Violet’s bishop, but then her eyes widened in horror as one of Violet’s knights hopped over her defensive line to threaten Huey’s own knight. Without any safe retreats, Huey’s only option was to move her knight up and capture Violet’s knight; however, it was protected by a pawn. It was a trade. Violet was trying to push her advantage and accelerate the game.

It was Huey’s best option, though. She had to take it. But that left her with barely  _ any _ pieces left to force a checkmate.

She let out a sigh, moving her knight up and exchanging it for Violet’s. She knew it would soon be returned, though.

But then, to her surprise, Violet didn’t reach for her pawn to finish the trade. Instead, she moved her queen up, capturing one of Huey’s pawns and once again putting her king into—

“Check,” Violet said.

This was—this was over. Huey’s knight was buried deep in enemy territory with no time to get it out as long as Violet kept pressuring her king, her rook was trapped behind a blockade of pawns that would take at  _ least _ three moves to navigate through, and that only left her queen, which she really didn’t want to use so aggressively; if she lost her queen, she literally wouldn’t have enough pieces to win.

She didn’t have a choice. She had to tell her. With a deep breath, Huey opened her beak, and—

“Huey,” Violet said, “I—I think there’s something we need to talk about.”

Huey’s beak snapped shut. 

“I know this might be a bad time, but I’m not sure if there will be a good time,” Violet went on, “so I figured I may as well bring this up sooner rather than later.”

“Um—okay,” Huey said. She was very confused; Violet was practically echoing back to her the words that she had planned on saying just a few seconds earlier. What was she doing? Was she… confessing? No, no—it couldn’t be.

Violet averted her eyes. “Back at the library, when you left early… was the reason you were acting so strangely because you, ah…” She paused, forming words with her beak that never quite got out, and then let out a breath. “Forgive me; I’m going to be direct here. I know my bluntness can be problematic on occasion, but I’m not sure how else to go about this.”

“Blunt is fine,” Huey croaked out, throat dry.

“Thank you,” Violet said with a smile. “I’ll just ask it, then. Apologies if I am reading into your behaviors incorrectly, but do you have a crush on me?”

Huey felt her heart seize up, and she gripped the edges of the table so hard her knuckles went right. “I—I—”

“It’s okay!” Violet assured, reaching out a hand and laying it on Huey’s. “Breathe, Huey. With me. In, and out.”

It took a bit, but Huey eventually got her breathing to even out. She could feel that her face was still bright red, though. “Um—yes. Yeah. I guess I was pretty obvious.”

“A bit,” Violet said. “And… I’m so, so sorry, but I didn’t want to lead you on or get your hopes up, so I’m telling you this now. I’m aromantic.”

An odd sense of chilly calm washed over Huey. “Oh.” Of course. Of course! That just—of course. She was so stupid. Why did she ever think—? So stupid.

“Are you okay?” Violet asked, her voice concerned. She cared; she cared so  _ much. _ She was so nice. Huey was pretty sure that just made it hurt more.

“I’m fine,” she lied. “I’m—thank you for telling me. I think I’m gonna go take some time for myself now though.”

“I completely understand,” Violet said. “Huey, you’re my best friend. My  _ best _ friend. You know that, right?”

“Bye,” Huey said, standing up.

“Huey—”

She turned around before she could take in Violet’s face, and ran off towards her room. She made it around two corners before she started crying, which, all things considered, she was a little bit proud of. At least Violet hadn’t seen her cry—that would just make things even more humiliating than they already were. 

She reached her room in record time and threw open the door. She needed her brothers right now. That was the only thing she knew for certain at the moment. And, thankfully, there they were, sitting on their bunks, Louie on his phone and Dewey reading a magazine.

Dewey put his magazine down as she came in, smiling. “Huey! How did it goooooooh no.” His smile quickly inverted as he took in Huey’s tear-soaked face.

“Hoo boy,” Louie mumbled, clicking off his phone and sliding into his hoodie pocket. “Hey, hey, Huey, it’s okay. Do you wanna talk about it?” 

“No,” Huey choked out. “I really really d-don’t.”

“Okay! No talking! We can do that,” Dewey said, scrambling out from under his covers so fast he toppled out of his bunk and faceplanted onto the carpet. He quickly got up, fingers tapping away at his phone. Huey heard the little  _ shwoop _ of a text being sent off, and then Dewey reached over and grabbed his and Louie’s pillows, chucking them up onto Huey’s bunk.

“Hey,” Louie muttered, sitting up as his pillow was stolen.

“Sorry, Louie! All troops relocating to Huey’s bunk for maximum comfiness! It’s an emergency!”

“Uh, right.” Louie got up and stood awkwardly to the side for a few seconds before saying, “Okay, I’m sorry, I’m bad at this stage of comforting. More of a solutions guy. So, um—I’m gonna do this”—he walked over and wrapped Huey up in a tight hug, and Huey hugged him back, taking solace in the familiar smell of his hoodie—“and then leave for a bit. Text if you need me.”

“Thanks, Louie,” Huey mumbled, giving him one final squeeze before she let him go. 

Louie slipped out of the room, and Huey climbed up to his bed, where Dewey was already sitting, fluffing up the many pillows he had acquired.

“You guys are the b-best,” Huey said, collapsing onto the pillows and burying herself as deeply as she could.

“I take Operation Comfort Huey very seriously,” Dewey said. “Is there anything else I can do? I’m not very experienced with helping people after they get rejected.”

The word seemed to stab Huey right in the chest. She’d been prepared to get rejected, of course, but the fact that Violet wasn’t even  _ capable _ of returning her feelings just… stung in a very specific way she couldn’t put her finger on. It almost didn’t feel fair; she’d never even had a chance. She let out another sniffle, wiping at her eyes.

Dewey sucked in a breath. “Oh, jeez, I said something wrong, didn’t I?”

“No, you’re—you’re fine,” Huey said. “You’re g-great.”

A second later, the door to their room blew open with a forceful kick, and Webby bounced inside. “I’m here!” she called. “I brought ice cream!” 

She triumphantly held a carton of strawberry ice cream—Huey’s favorite—over her head. Huey smiled weakly as Webby effortlessly leapt up onto the bunk with them, setting the ice cream down at her lap with a spoon. It was getting a bit crowded, what with all the bodies and pillows, but Huey didn’t mind. 

“Thanks, Webby, but I probably sh-shouldn’t have ice cream in bed,” Huey reasoned.

“But you’re sad!” Webby protested. “That’s what you do when you’re sad!”

“I won’t even make fun of you for liking strawberry ice cream,” Dewey offered. “Even though it’s gross.”

“…Th-thanks,” Huey mumbled. Screw it, she decided, popping off the lid and beginning to spoon ice cream directly into her mouth. They sat there like that for a while, and, slowly, Huey started to feel a bit better. Or, well, she stopped crying, at least. Maybe there was something to this ice cream thing after all.

“I’m sorry I encouraged you so much,” Webby said after a bit, twiddling her thumbs. “I didn’t mean to get your hopes up. I just—I thought for  _ sure—” _

“It’s not your fault,” Huey assured. “She’s… Violet’s aromantic. You couldn’t have known.”

“Oh,” Dewey said, frowning. “Well that… oh.” 

“Yeah,” Huey said. “I really screwed this one up.”

“You didn’t screw anything up!” Webby said, resting a hand on Huey’s shoulder. “Violet  _ does _ love you, just—in her own way! You’ll always have that. Crushes… crushes fade. But the kind of friendship you two have is forever.”

“I guess,” Huey said. “Still sucks.”

“Things can be okay and suck at the same time,” Dewey reasoned. “That’s why we have pillows.”

“And ice cream!” Webby chirped.

“Yeah.” Huey finally broke a smile. “And that’s why we have family, too, I think.”

Webby and Dewey both grinned at her, and she put the ice cream carton off to the side as they came in for a hug.

“I’m still sorry about Violet,” Webby said as they held each other. “I know it must hurt.”

“It does,” Huey admitted. “But I think… it’ll also be okay, eventually.”

* * *

Violet was still sitting at the table, frowning at the chessboard, when Louie walked in.

“Hey,” he said, sitting down across from her.

“Hello,” Violet said. “Is Huey alright?”

“Nope,” Louie said.

Violet nodded. “I see. Does she… hate me?”

“What?” Louie made a face. “No? I don’t think she’s capable of hating you.”

“Well, I suppose that’s something, at least.” She sighed. “This feels much worse than I anticipated.”

“What do you mean?” Louie reached over to Huey’s abandoned rook, sliding it over in a horribly illegal move to capture Violet’s queen. “Do you regret turning her down?”

“That’s not how that piece moves,” Violet said.

“It is now.” Louie looked up at her. “Well?”

“I… I don’t know,” Violet said. She moved up the bishop she’d been using to protect her queen and retook the rook. “I think it was the right thing to do. I don’t like her romantically. I’m aromantic.”

“Oh,” Louie said. “Same.”

Right, Lena had mentioned that. Violet looked up, meeting Louie’s eye. “Have you ever had to turn someone down before?”

“I mean, no,” Louie said. “But, I don’t know, I kind of doubt I’d be really hung up over it. Like, I’d feel bad for whoever it was, probably, but I wouldn’t feel bad for  _ myself. _ Which unless I’m reading you wrong is part of this issue here.”

“I… yes,” Violet admitted. “That is indeed part of the issue. I  _ do _ love Huey, in all the ways I can. I guess some part of me wishes I had just… said yes anyway. To make her happy, or to deepen our relationship, even if I wouldn’t actually be able to deliver on the romantic aspects I would be promising.”

“You want a QPR,” Louie deduced, moving a pawn up three spaces to take Violet’s remaining knight.

“Yes.” Violet countered by taking the knight that she had trapped with her pawn earlier back when she’d been playing with Huey. “But obviously that isn’t what Huey wants.”

“Eh, I dunno,” Louie said. “I mean, I’m not her, obviously, but I  _ have _ known her for like twelve years, and she doesn’t seem like the type to go, ‘if you won’t kiss me then it’s not worth it,’ you know? Like, obviously she has a big gross ol’ crush on you right now, but I think she’d value a platonic relationship just as much as a romantic one. You should talk to her.”

“Except now she’s crying because I rejected her,” Violet said. She frowned. “I really screwed this up, I think.”

“Okay, so, maybe wait a bit for her to cool off. But Huey loves learning and trying new things,  _ especially _ with people she loves. Once you get past the initial hurdle, I think you two will do great. I mean, you practically spend all your time together anyhow.”

“That’s not true at all,” Violet said. “I… I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

“You do that. Also, checkmate.” Louie moved his queen up and around, through Violet’s defensive line, and used it to knock over her king. “I win. Better luck next time.”

“You absolutely do not win,” Violet said. “You clearly have no idea how to play chess.”

“Wow. Didn’t take you for a sore loser, Vi.”

Violet gave him a flat look. “Sure. Congratulations, Loubert.”

“What the fuck,” Louie said, immediately. “Loubert? I hate that.”

“That was the intention.” Violet stood up from the table. “I suppose I’ll leave for now. Thank you for the advice.”

“I—yeah,” Louie said, still staring at the chessboard with a disgusted expression. “Loubert?” he mumbled under his breath. 

Violet left him at the table and exited the manor, shouldering her bag for the modest walk home. Louie’s advice tumbled around in her head, but she didn’t quite know what to make of it; she was still nervous to bring up the notion of a QPR to Huey, for a variety of reasons. Starting a relationship with such asymmetrical attractions seemed… uniquely difficult to navigate, on top of all the regular issues they would need to work out as queer-platonic partners. Compounded with the fact that neither Violet nor Huey had ever been in a committed relationship before, and there were frankly far too many variables for her to just…  _ ask _ Huey like that.

No, it would be much more prudent to allow Huey’s crush to pass and return to the friendship they had previously been enjoying, Violet decided. She needed something to take her mind off of it; perhaps some science? She had a few experiments she’d been wanting to get around to. Yes, that was it—she’d go home, test some hypotheses, and, most importantly, not think about Huey.

It would be fine. 


	5. See? You're Getting Excited.

The next morning, Huey and her brothers had been woken up bright and early by their mom, who was cheering about some grand adventure that Scrooge had found, and how they needed to get dressed _ right now! _ Huey, however, not feeling up to an adventure after the previous day, had said she would stay behind. Dewey and Louie had offered to keep her company, but she had insisted they go—after all, Dewey hadn’t been very good at hiding his excitement. 

Now, left all to her lonesome, her thoughts had quickly drifted back towards Violet, despite her best efforts. She was staring to spiral again, oscillating between feeling stupid, embarrassed, lovesick, and depressed. She’d even hastily reconstructed the pillow fort from the previous day, and was trying to distract herself with the games on her phone, but nothing was working. Weren’t crushes supposed to fade after you got rejected? How long did that take? She was getting tired of feeling sorry for herself.

And then the shadows in the corner of her room warbled, and a figure stepped out. “Hey. Red.”

“Lena?” Huey asked, setting down her phone. She was surprised at first, but it quickly drained out of her with a sigh. “Oh. Vi told you what happened, didn’t she?”

“Not directly,” Lena said. “But I have a pretty good idea.”

“Great. Now you know how much of an idiot I am, too.” Huey groaned, dragging her hands down her face. 

Lena rolled her eyes. “Save me your sob stories.”

“Wh-what?” Huey muttered.

“You’re not an idiot. You’re one of the smartest people I know, along with Violet.”

“Oh.” Huey didn’t quite know what to make of Lena complimenting her so openly; normally, she just teased her mercilessly. “Thanks, Lena, I—”

“Which makes it so  _ weird _ that the two of you are being so unbelievably stupid about this,” Lena finished.

_ Aaand, there it is, _ Huey thought, frowning. “Why are you here, exactly?”

“Okay, look,” Lena said. “You don’t live with Violet, so you don’t know what she’s like when she’s sad.”

“She’s sad?” Huey asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s a freaking  _ mess,”  _ Lena said, leaning forward and clapping her palms together. “M-E-S-S  _ mess! _ I woke up this morning and she was,  _ god, _ she had turned the whole house into some mad science lab. Like, she’s got a ton of chemistry shit set up in the kitchen, she’s gathered up all the houseplants and is doing some sort of growth serum experiment with them so she can easily get potion ingredients because, guess what, she’s into alchemy now! Also I think she’s doing an archeological dig in the backyard, I keep hearing  _ really concerning _ noises coming from her room, and she drew a summoning circle in the living room and tried to convince me to use my magic to activate it.”

“That’s… a lot,” Huey said. “Why is she doing all that?”

“You!” Lena exclaimed. “You is why! My fathers said she gets like this when she’s upset, but even  _ they’ve _ never seen it this bad. And, look, there’s really only  _ one _ thing she could be upset about.”

“Wh—but— _ she’s _ the one who turned  _ me _ down!” Huey protested, throwing a hand over her chest. “She even brought it up! If anyone should be upset here, it’s me!”

“Right?! That’s what I said!” Lena huffed, flopping down into Louie’s desk chair. “But she kept insisting it was  _ fine _ and that everything was  _ normal _ when it really very clearly isn’t.”

“But… I don’t understand,” Huey said, brow furrowed. “Why is she taking it so hard? Does she feel guilty?”

“No, it’s…” Lena glanced up at her. “She told you why she doesn’t want to date you, right?”

“Because she’s aromantic.”

Lena nodded. “Yeah. But just because she’s not  _ romantically _ interested doesn’t mean she isn’t  _ interested.” _

“What?” Huey was getting very confused. How else would… oh! “Are you saying she’s platonically attracted to me?”

“Mmhmm. But she didn’t want to say anything because—” Lena cut herself off with a frown. “Well, I don’t really know, actually. Something about not wanting to make you compromise, or wanting to wait for your crush to fade, or not wanting to rock the boat, or  _ something. _ It doesn’t really matter, anyway, they’re all just excuses she’s using to talk herself out of it.”

“I… wow.” Huey gulped. “I read a lot about queerplatonic relationships when Louie came out, and I remember thinking that it would be nice to have one. I’ve never really had many friends outside of my brothers, so those relationships are really special to me already, and… well, if I were to pick someone…” He shook his head. “B-but, well, I really do like Violet romantically. Won’t that be awkward? I don’t want to force her into anything she’s uncomfortable with…”

“Then don’t force her,” Lena said with a shrug. “Tell her what you want, and let her tell you what  _ she _ wants.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Huey said. “But there are so many variables. What if I want to kiss her? I—I think I do, maybe, you know, um, but—but would she be okay with that? Would she be willing to do it for me, even if she doesn’t want to? How do we balance my emotional wants with her potential discomfort? And that’s just one example!”

“Okay, so you might have to work out some details.” Lena rolled her eyes. “So what? You nerds  _ love _ details.”

Huey thought about that. “Well… I  _ do _ love details,” she murmured. “If I were to, like, make a list of all the traditionally romantic actions that I want and don’t want out of a relationship—”

Lena smirked. “See? You’re getting excited.”

“—and cross referencing that list with a similar list that Violet makes… Oh, and we should probably differentiate between activities we specifically desire and ones we’re simply comfortable with. A spreadsheet would be great for this, actually, if we set it up so that—”

“Okay, you don’t actually have to, like, walk me through it, though,” Lena said, holding up a hand. “But, yeah. That nerd shit. Give it a whirl.”

“This… This could work!” Huey said, breaking into a smile. “I mean, sure, it’s not exactly what I’ve had in mind, but with the baseline amount of communication we’d need to even get started, it’d be a great foundation for a healthy relationship. And, honestly, spending more time with her is the main thing I was looking forward to anyway; I’m not sure it matters too much how we spend that time. Though I  _ do _ like cuddling… does Violet like cuddling?”

Lena, who was halfway through a shadow in the wall, turned. “What? Oh, uh, yeah, she loves that shit. But she always claims she doesn’t. Kinda like me before Webby beat that out of me, you know?” She coughed. “But you should probably be asking  _ her  _ this stuff, right?”

“Oh! Right.” Huey let out a nervous laugh. “Is she home? Can I just come over to your house?”

“Oh my god, please,” Lena said, rolling her eyes. “You’ve  _ gotta _ pull her out of whatever rut she’s in right now before she starts using the garage to split atoms.”

Huey raised an eyebrow. “She’s looking into nuclear fission?”

“I don’t know, probably. Anyway, I’m gonna bounce. Good luck.”

“See you!” Huey called. “And, thank you!”

“No problem,” Lena said, stepping the rest of her body into the shadows and disappearing entirely.

* * *

Violet poked her tongue out of her beak in concentration as she tilted the test tube carefully over the beaker. She was standing in the kitchen, which she had hastily turned into a chemistry lab. Currently, she was trying to engineer a solution that would serve as the perfect base for magical potions. She was getting into alchemy as well, you see, as a sort of hobby project; she had a pot on the stove that she was currently using as a cauldron, although thus far all of her attempts had resulting in products that Lena’s keen magical senses had determined to be ‘fucked up and evil and definitely likely to kill you.’ 

But Violet was determined. If she couldn’t get the potions right the traditional way, then she would just have to compensate with a little intervention from her good friend science. A little specially-engineered serum to bring the recipe together would surely—

“Violet, sweetie!” her Papa called from down the hall.

“I’m busy!” Violet called back, still carefully tilting the test tube. She only needed a couple drops.

“You’ve got someone here to see you!”

“Well, tell them I’m busy!”

“It’s Huey!”

Violet dropped the test tube. It fell straight into the beaker, and went up in a fiery explosion that Violet only just managed to dodge, jumping back.

“Um, is everything okay in there?”

That was Huey’s voice. Violet forced herself not to scowl; what was she doing here? Violet was supposed to be not thinking about her! Honestly, very rude.

Violet, however, wasn’t rude. “Everything's fine!” she shouted. “I’ll be right there!”

She made sure nothing else in the lab was about to imminently explode, and then hurried through the house over to the front door, where Huey was waiting. “Huey! What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Violet, I—” Huey stopped cold, looking at Violet in horror. “Oh my god, is your hair on fire?”

Violet reached up a hand and grabbed the burning tuft of hair in a closed fist, hissing through her teeth as it burned at her palm before it suffocated. “No.”

“Um.” Huey swallowed. “Okay. So, hey, can we talk somewhere more private?”

“Sure,” Violet said. “We can go to my room. Come in.”

She led the way up the stairs and over to her room, Huey constantly looking around at all the various experiments set up around the house. “Wow, you’re… really keeping yourself busy right now, huh?”

“Oh, yes,” Violet said, opening her door. Even her room was filled with charts and documents and notebooks full of plans and equations and observations; they were very well organized, of course, but purely due to the sheer volume of notes, she supposed it qualified as a ‘mess.’ “Every so often I get an insatiable itch to do some science. Though, this is the first time that my studies into the arcane have also played a part. Fascinating, really.”

“Uh, yeah,” Huey said, clearly nervous.

Violet sat down on her bed, and motioned for Huey to sit next to her, which she did. “So, what brings you over?” Violet asked. “I… wasn’t sure you’d want to see me again so soon after… well.”

Huey averted her gaze. “Um… I guess I’m here to ask if you wanted to try a new kind of experiment. With me. The queerplatonic kind.”

Violet’s eyes widened, her beak opening to respond—but, for once, she didn’t quite know what to say.

“I…” Huey wrung out her hands. “Okay, to be honest, Lena kind of came over and told me that you might be interested in a QPR and that got me thinking that, well,  _ I’d _ be interested in one too, so, like, why not, right?”

Violet nodded slowly. That made sense; Lena very much enjoyed meddling. “I see. Are you sure you’d be satisfied with one, though? I know your feelings for me are romantic as well. I mean, obviously I know that, that’s what that whole thing yesterday was about but—” Violet sighed. “I should stop talking.”

“No no no, you’re fine!” Huey assured. “I mean, I don’t really know, you know? Maybe this won’t work. But we won’t know unless we try.”

“Well.” Violet smiled. “I suppose you have me there.”

Huey beamed back at her. “So you want to do it?”

“Of course I do. I have for a while now. I just… wasn’t sure if you wanted to.” Violet laughed. “I never expected  _ you _ to be the one asking  _ me, _ though. I suppose I’m more of a mess than I thought.”

Huey giggled. “You…  _ might _ have gone a little overboard on the science.”

“Yes, I suppose.” Violet coughed. “If we’re going to start a QPR, though, we’re going to need to establish ground rules. Communication is essential. In fact, it may be prudent to compile a sort of chart—”

“I already made a spreadsheet,” Huey admitted, pulling out her phone. “And I filled in my half. So maybe we can start there?”

Violet’s eyes widened a little, and then she let out a laugh. Huey really was something else. “That sounds great, Huey. I’m excited.”

“I’m excited too,” Huey said. “I’ve gone on so many adventures in the past two years, but… I think this is going to be the best one yet.”

“Before I fill out the spreadsheet,” Violet said, “I think I’m going to have to cheat a little. Are you comfortable with hugs?”

“I’m  _ super _ comfortable with hugs,” Huey answered.

Violet smiled. “Good. Because what you just said was really sweet.”

She stepped forward, reached her arms around Huey, and squeezed her tight.

* * *

When Huey got home, she was surprised to find Webby, Dewey, and Louie waiting for her on the couch.

“Oh, hey guys,” she greeted as she stepped into the door. “How did the adventure go?”

“It was fine,” Webby said.

Louie let out a breath, a look of fear in his eyes. “I almost got eaten by this giant abyssian monster and honestly I’m not sure—”

“Yeah yeah whatever,” Webby said, waving him off. “Huey, how was  _ your _ day?”

Huey narrowed her eyes at Webby. “…Waaaait a second. Why are you so interested?”

“What? I’m not interested!” Webby said quickly. “Why do you think I’m interested? Did something happen? I bet something happened! Tell us what happened!”

Huey sighed. “Let me guess, Lena was listening in on my conversation with Violet from the shadows and then she texted you telling you what happened but you don’t want to seem nosy so you waited here until I got home to ask me?”

“Haha, whaaaaaaaaat…?” Webby said weakley. “That’s not what happened at all!”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Dewey said.

“Of course,” Huey said. She smiled. “Well, I guess you already know then, but yeah. Violet’s my queerplatonic partner now.”

“Yaaaay!” Webby said, throwing her hands up. “I’m so happy for you!”

“I’m so glad you two nerds could forge an even stronger nerd bond,” Louie said. “It really brings a nerd tear to the eye, you know?”

“What Louie  _ means  _ to say is that we’re all proud of you for figuring this out,” Dewey said.

“No, I meant to say that they’re nerds.”

Dewey frowned. “Louie, stop.”

“Don’t worry, I know what he means,” Huey said. “Thanks, guys. For everything.”

“Of course!” Webby chirped. “You’re our sister! We’re always here to help when you need it.”

“Sibling hug?” Dewey proposed, opening up his arms. “I’m feeling a sibling hug coming!”

“Sibling hug,” Huey agreed, stepping forward to meet up with the others as they all wrapped around each other. 

She let out a comfortable, relieved sigh as her family squeezed her half to death; things were still overwhelming, but now it was more of an exciting overwhelming, rather than the soul-crushing overwhelming from before. 

And maybe, Huey supposed, overwhelming wasn’t always so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you want, you can find me at tumblr over at [webby-vanderslap](https://webby-vanderslap.tumblr.com/).


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